As part of the state’s first anti-trafficking law (AB 22, Lieber), the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery Task Force reviewed California’s response to human trafficking and offered findings and recommendations in a 2007 report to the Governor, Attorney General, and Legislature. California has made tremendous progress in combating human trafficking since the Task Force released the Human Trafficking in California report, but significant new challenges in combating this crime have emerged in the last five years.
In January 2012, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris created a Human Trafficking Work Group to examine the nature and scope of human trafficking in California in 2012; to evaluate California’s progress since 2007 in combating human trafficking; and to identify challenges and opportunities in protecting and assisting victims and bringing traffickers to justice. The Work Group included more than 100 representatives of state, local and federal law enforcement, state government agencies, victim service providers, nonprofit groups, technology companies, and educational institutions. This report reflects the Work Group discussions held during three day-long meetings in Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, as well as supplemental research and investigation by the California Department of Justice.